Live Trip Report: The go home part (Sept 8, 2016)

[JustCor]

Guess which ride was a walk on... go ahead, I'll wait.

 

[JustCor]

Yup, that one!

 

[JustCor]

Voyage of the Little Mermaid: check

Star Tours: check

 

[JustCor]

I hopped aboard the boat back to Epcot and have been walking around the Boardwalk. I have dinner reservations in about an hour for Trattoria al Forno, so I'm killing a little time. Right now I'm parked on a bench in a shaded area by Boardwalk Villas to get out of the heat. It's been a fairly hot one today and my attempts to stay hydrated are starting to come up short. Unless something happens, there may not be an update until dinner. Would it be bad form to lay out on the bench and take an hour nap? Probably, huh? They may not appreciate a guy in his underwear snoring away. That's the only way I can sleep.

 

[JustCor]

So, no phone service in Trattoria. Good to know.

I had minor concerns about eating at Trattoria al Forno. In the time leading up to my trip, I started reading some decidedly mixed reviews. It felt like a sign that maybe I'd be better off eating elsewhere. I thought it over multiple times and ended up holding on to the ressie. Thankfully, it was a smart move. Much like The Wave yesterday, Trattoria was mostly empty when I arrived. The restaurant filled a little faster than Wave, but remained 3/4 full by the time I left. My server today was Sergio, who was spot on and super attentive. He would be right on top of filling my drink, being attentive without being smothering, and having a genuine great attitude.

Dinner started with a warm ciabatta bread served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I was starving and scarfed it down quick. It was a good way to settle the rumbling in my belly and help me think a little more clearly.

I already had an idea of what I wanted from browsing the menu online, but I did a once over to see if anything would stand out. Nothing really screamed "pick me! " so I went with the plan.

I've been on a bit of a fried calamari kick lately, so it was a definite. Calamari is easy to mess up. Too often it's overcooked and comes out in roughly the same texture as bicycle tires. This Calamari was spot on, remaining tender and not being caked I'm batter. Excellent!

When I chose this restaurant, I was on a huge kick for spaghetti and meatballs. That kind of disappeared, but the Polpetta Gigante still looked like the best choice today. I may not be on the same meatball kick, but I'm not going to turn it down when available. The pasta was very tasty, with a green filling that was creamy and complemented the pasta well. The sauce had a slight heat to it that was very welcome. The meatball, though, was just alright. There was a little too much spinach that gave a slightly odd flavor. I finished the entire dish, so it was hardly terrible, but I would have liked a little more meat flavor and less spinach flavor. After finishing off dinner, I had no room for dessert. I paid and headed to the buses to go back to the room. I need a shower. Maybe sweets too.

 

[JustCor]

I've been chilling on the balcony watching the boats and it's been perfectly relaxing. I may be done with parks for the day. Not being in shoes is about the best feeling ever right now.

 

[disneyAndi14]

We just got back from the GF, we loved it to, we didn't have as nice of a view as you did, but we could see Wishes from our balcony to. If I could afford to I Would stay at GF all the time. I also loved the grits at the Wave and had never found a grit I liked until I ate there. Great report, sounds like the parks were light on crowds, that is a good thing for sure. We returned to real life on 8/29/16 from there.

 

[G719]

Enjoying your trip report. Just found it on a boredom induced scroll through the trip reports board. Wanted to chime in and say that the music you were hearing while waiting on the fireworks that you never saw was probably the electricall water pageant not the MK parade. The little mermaid songs and grand old flag play during that.

 

[JustCor]

Enjoying your trip report. Just found it on a boredom induced scroll through the trip reports board. Wanted to chime in and say that the music you were hearing while waiting on the fireworks that you never saw was probably the electricall water pageant not the MK parade. The little mermaid songs and grand old flag play during that.

Welcome aboard! That's good to know about the water pageant. Thank you!

 

[JustCor]

So, new day, new fun. I tapped out a little earlier than expected last night, though I did make a few last minute tweaks to my plans. I cancelled my breakfast ADR for tomorrow at Grand Floridian Cafe. I think I just want to sleep in a bit and then roll out of here whenever I'm packed up. I also may swing by Which Wich on the way home for lunch before the drive. What I did end up adding to my plans for today is a morning breakfast at The Wave, due up in a little over an hour. So I'll do the last of my getting ready and be on the monorail to breakfast shortly.

 

[JustCor]

I'm here a little early for breakfast, but have used the time to set up my fantasy football team for this week's games, and to people watch. Surprisingly little activity going on in the Contemporary lobby today. Is it just slow or is it too early for activities to be going on? Also, what's with the fur coat and earmuffs, miss? Is Florida too cold for your delicate condition?

 

[JustCor]

There were people at The Wave! Not a lot, but almost half full! So busy.

The Wave offers individual dishes or a buffet. I chose buffet, though I think next time I'll order off of the menu. I stayed with this mix of stuff. Clockwise from top left: scrambled eggs, key lime eggs Benedict, some kind of biscuit eggs Benedict, and biscuits and gravy.

Reviewed in that order:

• The scrambled eggs are your typical buffet scrambled eggs. They're a little on the dry side, but not offensive.
• My ability to read failed me on the key lime eggs Benedict. I looked at the dish and for some reason my brain told me 'goat cheese'. You can probably imagine my surprise when i cut into my goat cheese and hit yolk. Needless to say, despite the initial disappointment, the Benedict was good. The key lime zest adds a nice little bit of brightness to the dish.
• The biscuit Benedict thing was a disappointment. Dry and flavorless. Nothing more needs to be said.
• The biscuits and gravy are the typical buffet kind. They lack any kind of flavor and the biscuits are dry.
• Bacon and sausage are bacon and sausage. They are bacony and sausagey.

Not a bad first course. It was much more filling than expected, surprisingly.

Course 2 is more of the same, though I cut out the parts I didn't enjoy and added done cheesy hash browns. Did I mention this stuff is filling? I made it a little over half way through the plate before tapping.

Well, almost tapping. I spotted these immediately, but wanted to wait a little before actually trying them. On the left is a banana white chocolate caramel parfait. On the right, honey vanilla oatmeal yogurt parfait. Both were amazing. I made sure to squeeze every last bite out of both, and then cursed myself for wasting all that valuable stomach space on a second plate. Curses! I do regret not having any Mickey waffles or three delicious looking sweet potato pancakes. Oh well.

The Wave was excellent, as always. Now, I'm not sure what the plan is. I think I'm headed to Disney Springs later on, but now is up in the air. I may do more walking around Grand Floridian and work off some of this breakfast.

 

[JustCor]

After a little stroll around the grounds and a stop at Basin to pick up an item or two, I'm back in the room for a moment. It's getting hot outside, and I may let the heat pass a little bit before venturing back out. Last year, a whole one year into having Disney experiences, I didn't quite understand people who would do a trip to Disney and not go to the parks. It seemed like buying a BLT sandwich, but getting it without bacon. Absurd! Scandalous! Wasteful!

This year, an entire two years after the start of my Disney experience, I think I understand now. It's like buying a BLT sandwich and leaving out the tomato. I do that all the time (tomatoes, yuck). There's a certain amount of stress that just disappears when the parks aren't the focus. I do enjoy going to them quite a bit, and don't know if I'd ever do a Disney trip and not hit up at least Magic Kingdom and Epcot, but there's a certain pleasure that comes with being able to take in the rest of the Disney touches that exist in everything else that's not directly at the parks. I'm now on my seventh Disney Resort. Each of the resorts I've stayed at has had their own kind of Disney charm. The service, across the board, has been excellent. Some resorts feel a little more complete in the overall experience, but they seem to cater to different mindsets. Maybe I'm reading into things and applying my own biases, which is absolutely a very viable possibility, but the values seem to push your plans more towards being at the parks, while the deluxe resorts and some of the moderates seem more accommodating to broader plans. When I stayed at All-Star Movies and All-Star Sports, I wanted to fill my time more with being at the parks for a good amount of time in the day. The rooms were basic and the things available to do at the resort were limited to food court and pool. My time at POR seemed more relaxed, even though it took place before trying out the values. The room was much nicer, and the grounds seemed set up to allow for time off from the parks. I did some very nice walks around the different areas of POR and was more apt to explore the pathways. Having a boat ride to Disney Springs was icing on the cake. At the Deluxes that I've stayed at so far (GF, Poly, and to a lesser extent AKL) it's been far easier to justify just enjoying the entire experience, rather than hitting the parks hard every day. The monorail resorts, in particular, remove so much of the stress of feeling like I need to be at the parks. Perhaps because it's just a quick ride to MK and I'm back into the action, rather than having to wait on the right bus to show up and to hope there's not a gob of people crammed into those buses. It feels less like a chore to enjoy the parks when at the monorail resorts, and I have a feeling that the Epcot resorts have a similar feel. Being in the thick of it takes away the stress of feeling like I need to be at the parks to get the most value out of my trip.

I think there's another part to this equation that some people have to factor in that I don't: kids. I don't have kids. I'm a few fingers away from 40 and feel that I would like to keep things that way. All of my Disney plans have been to cater to my needs, save for the few times when I've gone with friends. Nothing I do has to be concrete. Most of my trips have involved multiple plan changes through each stage of the trip, including departure days. I'm not sure that kind of freedom exists when the trip is planned around the wishes of children. Is there resort only days when you have kids with Disney in their eyes? I've read tons and tons of trip reports on this site and there always seems to be a small amount of stress built into them when it comes to the pre-trip planning and getting the absolute most out of every day and every park so that their kids can experience everything. That's incredibly commendable and my hats go off to the parents who are able to pull it off without losing their minds by the end. That's a tough thing to do. I watch kids lose their s**t more often than I can count and sympathise for the parents who have to handle them. How do you not become disheartened when what should be a dream trip for a kid instead becomes a constant series of events of trying to deal with a miserable child. There's a couple with two kids here at the GF who I've seen every day since I checked in. My heart immediately goes out to them. They have a boy who may be one or two and a girl who looks to be about three or four. I'm terrible at judging kids ages, by the way. The boy is at wobbly walking age and the girl looks like she might be starting school for the first time soon. Anyway, every time I've seen them, both at the resort and randomly at the parks, the boy is doing that kind of cry where it's misery plus intentionally trying to make everyone else miserable too, and the girl is pouting. I can only imagine the amount of money and planning went into their trip, and I imagine that this is probably supposed to be a special trip for the kids, maybe the trip before the girl starts school, and the boy's first Disney trip ever, but you'd never know it by the kids. There's been a steadily defeated look on the parents faces as each day has passed, and it would not surprise me if they were looking forward to the end of the trip and going back home. I hope hope hope and hope some more that there's real Disney magic building up to turn this trip around for the parents and also hope I've had the misfortune of only catching them during times of hunger of naps. Would it be good or bad form to buy them a bottle of some kind of nice alcohol as a "things look like they could be going a little better and I hope this bottle gives you a little Disney magic" type of offering? I just feel like maybe I should do something. Or maybe I should but out and stop assuming the worst.

Well, that was a bit of a verbose journey, wasn't it? I think that's the long way of saying I'm not doing anything for at least two or three hours except enjoying Grand Floridian and digesting food.

More updates in a bit while I attempt to make some plans.

 

[JustCor]

By the way, my hands smell and feel amazing. The wonderful girls at Basin did a demo of the hand scrub stuff on my hands and the feel really soft and smell really nice. Would I do that scrub stuff at home? No way. I take quick showers and use the restroom and that's about all. I'm not much on the pampering part. I will, however, try it out while on vacation. I bought soaps and shampoo bars. That'll cover my at home pampering.

 

[JustCor]

Did you know it's hot out? Like really hot? I'm at MK. So far I've done haunted mansion, splash mountain, Buzz lightyear, and people mover twice. My shirt is drenched in sweat. Did I mention it's hot? It totally is. I need snacks and drinks.

 

[JustCor]

Sweets. Yum. I could have sworn that the confection shop had a greater selection. There seemed to be less everything that I remember, or maybe I just didn't notice the past few times. I had grand plans to get more, but I honestly couldn't find much that I wanted. On the boat to GF to shower up and get ready to head to Disney Springs. I'll be meeting up with friends to go to the dine-in movie thing at AMC and watch Suicide Squad. I have very low expectations of the film, but a previous dinner and movie proved the food to be surprisingly delicious and not horribly priced.

 

[JustCor]

While standing on line at Haunted Mansion, I kept getting wafts of very strong body odor come towards me. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but I started to worry that it was me.

It wasn't me, thankfully. I smell of Grand Floridian soap and still have fresh deodorant. To whomever it may have been: please remit yourself to a shower of to a liberal dosing of deodorant, especially while in packed and hot crowds at Disney. That was a tough one to handle. Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas. Gracias.

 

[JustCor]

Waiting for the bus to Disney Springs. It's beautiful out right now.

 

[JustCor]

To the gentleman wearing the Hasa Diga Eebowai shirt, please know you are my hero.

 

[JustCor]

Sometimes the smell of a pretzel is too tempting. This was one of those times.